Picentes

The Picentes were an Italic tribe who inhabited the region between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea south of Ancona in eastern Italy. The Picentes were Sabine colonists who followed a woodpecker (picus, their namesake) to Picenum. In 299 BC, they concluded a treaty with Rome and warned them of the Samnites' intention to form a coalition against the Romans in 297 BC, but, 30 years later, the Picentes were rivals with the Romans. In 268 BC, they were defeated by two consular armies after attempting to rebel against the Roman Republic. Following the Social War of the 1st century BC, the Picentes were assimilated as Roman citizens.